Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-12-10
ORIENTAL WEDDINGS.
HOW THE CEREMONY IS CONSUM-
MATED IN ONSTANTINOPLE.
Armenian Young Men Not Troubled With
Sensitiveness in Regard to the Brides
FOrtune-Handling the Dowry-Presents
Given to the GirI-Swinging the Censers.
ICopNriqhted. ISL

copyrighted. 1871
While in Constantinople had an invita-
ton to assist at an Armenian wedding, the
young bride being the daughter of a wealthy
powder manufacturer, and the bridegroom a
simple clerk in the office of the LeUdnt Times,
paper which for long time enjoyed the
especial favor of the Sultan Aziz, on account
of its advocacy of change in the succession
of princes to the throne. As the law is, the
whole of the family of brothers must reign
before the son of the oldest brother can as
pre- to the throne, and Sultan Aziz always
wished to have the succession changed so
that his son would take his place instead of
his brothers. Afterward this paper was sup
pressed arbitrarily for some trihe and subse-
quently reinstated to be again suppressed.
A newspaper has a hard time in Turkey.
This young bridegroom was tall, well
built and good looking, with brown, curly
beard and hair, and yet he was but a poor
clerk. But the Greeks and Armenians, as
well as the majority ofEuropean nations, are
not proud in that respect A young man
without piastre is not too sensitive to ac-
cept fortune with his BRIDE and indeed no
young girl in those nations can get hus-
band at all without having substantial
dowry-the larger the dowry the younger,
handsome and more arstocratic hus-
band she caught; and the amount of
dowry is stated when he is asked
to consider the maiden's claims to
his admiration. Among the Armenians,
as the Greeks and Turks, the young people
never meet alone, nor do they do their own
preliminary counting. Old women gO-be-
tweens are employed usually to go to the
young man and descant upon her beauties of
person and character, and the amount of her
dowry and then, if the latter is large
enough, the woman returns and tells the
family that the young man demands the
hand of the young lady. Sometimes broth
ers undertake to find suitable husbands for
their sisters, but usually the professional
matchmakers are employed.
In the case of the couple to whose wedding
l went the old woman had gone down to
the office and made her proposal there,
which he accepted on condition that the
dowrywas actually what it represented, which
was 10000 Turkish liras or nearly 500, 900,
and this was considered good dowry, and
therefore the young girl was very attractive.
The young man, Haskar by name, re-
ceived the money all together the day before
the ceremony, according to custom, and out
of that he bought his wedding suit and a
handsome necklace of turquoise and bril-
liants for his wedding present to her. In the
evening, after having received the dowry
money, he called on Mr.. Haniy and pro-
posed to buy a partnership in the LeUdnt
Times, and so in one day from a clerk he as
pired to become part owner of the paper. He
talked of the dowry in the most open manner
and said that he thought that so wealthya man
should have given his daughter larger por
ton, but that in time he hoped his wife
would inherit fortune, as her father lived
near very unhealthy place called Yerim-
bourgas and already had malaria. Still. the
family of the bride were satisfied, and GUS
tom blunts any feeling they might have on
hesubject; but it seemed most abhorrent to
hear him talk in this cool, calculating way.
Mr.. and Mrs. Hanly say that it is the fashion
among the Armenians, and as long as they
are satisfied everybody else ought to be.
forgot to mention that there were two
houses also given to the bride, one in Con-
stantinople and one in Prinkipo, both fur
nished and ready for occupancy, but both
these were settled upon her, at which
Haskar complained, and he sent his cousin
and mother to prove that the inventories of
furniture and the brides clothes were abso-
lutely correct as stated. When | arrived at
the house the bride was just dressed, and 1
was invited into the bedroom where she
was to be seen in all the glory of her attire.
She was standing in the centre of the room,
and all the slaves and old women stood on
one side to give better view of her magnifi-
CcnCv.
1t took a walk all around her to discover
where her face was. or which was the back.
She was covered with a most curious veil
made of long slips of gold tinsel which
reached to her feet. Through this you could
not see, except the bottom of her dress. The
Armenian women are generally very pretty,
but without much intellectual expression,
and, in fact, they are not renowned for in
telligence or wit, and so well is this known
that instead of calling another fool, the
Orientals say, Pretty Armenian"
On the other hand, they are gentle, sweet
dispositoned and very domestic and fondly
attached to their husbands and children
Asa general rule the Armenian women dress
much after the fashion of European nations
that is to say, they have no distinctly ma
tional costume, but in ceremonies like a
wedding they cling to custom which has
been in use for centuries.
After having twice made a circuit of this
tinsel VEIL the women lifted it aside in front
and revealed a rather pretty young girl of
fifteen or sixteen. She wore dress of white
silk brocaded with silver and pearls, and
around her waist was wide belt of gold
studded with precious stones.
Her cheeks were painted deep crimson,
laid on in heart-shape, and another heart
was artistically put on the chin, while the
rest of her face was as white as the white lead
cosmetic could make it. The eyebrows met
and also reached to the hair on each side of
the temples, and they we're as black as they
could be painted. The inside of the ends of
her fingers and finger-nails was stained
deep crimson. Her hair, which was long
and thick, though coarse, was braided full of
little jingling coins. The outlines of form
were as usual in this country. completely